Overview
- Liberals and One Nation, which vowed Friday to vote no in the Upper House, have left Labor without the numbers to lift the ban early.
- Premier Peter Malinauskas proposed ending the South East’s 2018 ten-year moratorium to start exploration and scientific studies.
- He argues the step is needed to test local gas resources as forecasts point to tighter supply in coming years.
- Producers and residents packed Mount Gambier forums to protest, saying fracking risks aquifers and prime farm land.
- The mining lobby backed the change as an energy security measure, and if it fails in parliament the moratorium still ends in 2028.